Cesar Lacbu Nucum (May 15, 1938 – May 17, 2007), better known as Kuya Cesar, was a Filipino radio personality. He was also known as "Speed Bagal".

Early life

Cesar Lacbu Nucum was born on May 15, 1938, at Pansinao in

Candaba, Pampanga Candaba, officially the Municipality of Candaba (Kapampangan: ''Balen ning Candaba''; ; formerly Candawe), is a municipality in the province of Pampanga, Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 119,497 people. History ...

. He is the eldest son of Aurelio and Romana Nucum. Before being a radio announcer, he used to sell balut and was also a scrap collector, collecting old newspaper and used bottles to be sold at their local junk shop, at his hometown. He came to Manila and worked as a construction painter before getting the job as a radio announcer after he auditioned at DZMM, with the help of his very distinctive voice. He is considered as one of the station's pioneers which includes

Noli de Castro Manuel "Noli" Eleuterio de Castro Jr. (; born July 6, 1949) is a Filipino broadcaster, journalist politician and singer. who served as the 12th Vice President of the Philippines from 2004 until 2010, under the second full term of President ...

and

Ernie Baron Ernesto J. Baron (August 15, 1940 – January 23, 2006), professionally known as Ka Ernie Baron, was a Filipino broadcaster and inventor. He spent more than 40 years in the field of broadcasting. He was best known as the weather presenter in t ...

. He kept the job for many decades. His career was shortly seized when

ABS-CBN ABS-CBN is a leading Philippine media and content company. It serves as the flagship media brand of ABS-CBN Corporation, a subsidiary of Lopez Holdings Corporation. Once the country's largest free-to-air television network, ABS-CBN has since ...

shut down in 1972 due to martial law. In the 1970s and 80s, Kuya Cesar joined

IBC-13 DZTV-TV (channel 13) is a television station in Metro Manila, Philippines, serving as the flagship of the IBC network. It is owned and operated by the network's namesake corporate parent. The station maintains studios at the IBC Compound, Lo ...

where he was the station manager of DWAN 1206. When ABS-CBN reopened in 1986 after the

EDSA People Power Revolution The People Power Revolution, also known as the EDSA Revolution or the February Revolution, were a series of popular Demonstration (people), demonstrations in the Philippines, mostly in Metro Manila, from February 22 to 25, 1986. There was a ...

, he returned to DZMM.

Career

During his career, he hosted several radio programs which featured his noted slow manner of speaking. Audiences found his style and endearing and somewhat comic as well. In his programs he gave heartfelt advice to listeners and played music from his generation. He pioneered entertainment talk radio in Taglish on the FM band, which at the time was a shock to many. His noted radio programs were ''Dear Kuya Cesar'', 12am-4 am, and ''Ikaw sa Likod ng mga Awit'', 12:30pm-4 pm. He won several awards in his radio announcer career. He also appeared in movies like ''Bala at Lipstick'' in 1994, ''Gagay: Prinsesa ng Brownout'' in 1993 and ''Tora-Tora, Bang Bang Bang'' in 1990. During the 80s he had a comedy TV show called

Super Laff-In ''Super Laff-In'' is a Philippine television sketch comedy show broadcast by ABS-CBN. Originally directed by Bert de Leon. The series is based of American television series ''Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In''. It aired from February 1, 1969 to Septe ...

. He gained the nickname "Speed Bagal" due to his slow delivery.

Personal life

He was married to Sylvia Villanueva Nucum, with six sons: Cesar Jr. (Jun), Arnel, Ranilo, Erwin, Niño and Jordan.

Filmography

Movies

*''Talents Unlimited'' (1968) *''Andres de Saya: Mabagsik na Daw!'' (1982) - Dr. B. Agal *''Tora Tora, Bang Bang Bang'' (1990) *''Gagay: Prinsesa ng Brownout'' (1993) *''Bala at Lipstick'' (1994) - Cosme *''Walang Iwanan, Peksman!'' (2002) - Priest

TV show

*''

'' (1969–1972)

Radio shows

*''Dear Kuya Cesar'' (

DZMM DZMM (630 AM) Radyo Patrol is a radio station owned by Philippine Collective Media Corporation and operated conjointly with ABS-CBN Corporation under Media Serbisyo Production Corporation. The station's studios is located at the ABS-CBN Broad ...

) *''Ikaw sa Likod ng mga Awit'' (DZMM)

Death

On May 17, 2007, at 9:45 pm, just two days after his birthday, Nucum died of an apparent heart attack at the age of 69. Efforts to revive him were done but upon arrival at Capitol Medical Center he was pronounced dead. He was interred at Himlayang Pilipino in

Quezon City Quezon City (, ; ), also known as the City of Quezon and Q.C. (read and pronounced in Filipino language, Filipino as Kyusi), is the richest and List of cities in the Philippines, most populous city in the Philippines. According to the 2020 c ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Nucum, Cesar Lacbu 1938 births 2007 deaths Filipino radio personalities Filipino male comedians People from Pampanga 20th-century Filipino comedians